Water rates may rise in Ukraine
Water supply and wastewater treatment rates may rise in Ukraine. The Association of Ukrainian Cities has stated that this will happen if the government does not compensate utilities for the multi-billion difference between current rates and actual costs.
Water rates for Ukrainians may rise. The Association of Ukrainian Cities warned of this threat, appealing to the president to help resolve the issue of multi-billion-hryvnia debt owed to water utilities.
The Association’s board emphasizes that the issue concerns compensation for the difference between current rates and the actual costs incurred by water supply and wastewater treatment companies. As of today, this amount is estimated at approximately 7 billion hryvnias. The association notes that tariffs for the general public have not been adjusted for more than four years. Meanwhile, during this time, the costs of electricity, fuel, chemicals, equipment, spare parts, and labor have risen significantly.
In addition, critical infrastructure companies are forced to repair damaged networks at their own expense and work to ensure energy resilience amid constant attacks on the power grid. “The lack of state compensation for losses due to rising prices for electricity and other components of utility rates prevents water supply companies from implementing their resilience plans and forces local governments to consider raising rates for residential customers,” the Association of Ukrainian Cities stated.
The statement emphasizes that compensation from the state budget is the only way to avoid a sharp increase in water prices for consumers. Separately, the Association of Ukrainian Cities drew attention to Law No. 4777-IX, which took effect in March of this year. The law transferred the authority to set water supply rates to local governments. However, as the association notes, the problem of accumulated debt remains unresolved. “In this way, the state has shifted responsibility to local governments for the consequences of the NEURC setting economically unjustified rates,” the statement reads.
The Association of Cities also emphasizes that the new law does not provide a mechanism for repaying the debt that has already accumulated. If communities do not receive compensation from the state budget, they may be forced to find a solution to the situation on their own. One such option could be a revision of water rates for residents.
That is why the Association of Ukrainian Cities has appealed to the President of Ukraine, as the guarantor of the Constitution, with a request to initiate a resolution of this issue at the national level. “This is necessary to curb the rise in rates for residents, ensure the energy sustainability of businesses, and implement local and regional sustainability plans,” the association emphasized.
If the problem is not resolved, the issue of raising water supply and wastewater disposal rates may soon be addressed by local communities, which, following changes in legislation, have gained greater authority in this area. This is according to a statement by the Board of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, published on the AUC website.
Since the beginning of 2026, regional offices of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection have conducted 586 monitoring inspections at shelters and temporary accommodation sites for internally displaced persons, identifying violations of sanitaryand hygiene requirements in 106 cases.
